Tour de France Leader Is Removed From Race

"It's in no way a celebration on our end. It's the third piece of bad news," Discovery Channel spokesman P.J. Rabice said. "It reflects badly on our sport."

In recent days, Tour riders had openly voiced their skepticism about Rasmussen, and some fans booed him at the start of Wednesday's stage. Last week, he was kicked off the Danish national team for those two missed drug tests.

After the Tour's upbeat start in London, when millions of spectators lined the streets, bad news -- nearly all of it related to doping -- quickly claimed the spotlight.

German rider Patrick Sinkewitz crashed into a spectator, then was revealed to have failed a drug test in training before the race began.

Then on Tuesday, star cyclist Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan was sent home after testing positive for a banned blood transfusion, and his team pulled out of the race. Wednesday, it happened again when the Cofidis squad confirmed one of its riders, Cristian Moreni of Italy, had failed a doping test, prompting the withdrawal of the entire squad.

Police detained Moreni, who was in 54th place overall, after he finished the stage and searched the hotel where his Cofidis team was staying. Results from the raid weren't expected until Thursday. France has tough laws against trafficking in doping products.

"He accepted his wrongdoing and did not ask for a 'B' sample," Cofidis Manager Eric Boyer said, referring to a follow-up test athletes are entitles to ask for following a positive test result.

At the start of the stage, dozens of riders staged a silent protest against the continuing doping scandals. The pack of riders split into two groups: those who took the start as normal -- including Rasmussen -- and those who protested by hanging back, causing a 13-minute delay.

"We're fed up," AG2R rider Ludovic Turpin of France told Eurosport television.